Co-Owner, Green Mountain Girls Farm, LLC

Laura Olsen runs a small, diversified regenerative farm with her wife Mari Omland. Their regenerative practices aim to grow food in ways that capture the greatest potential of the sun, rain, and natural systems, while enhancing food quality, plant health, soil life and ecosystems. They also host tours; farm experiences and stays as well as farm-to-table meals.  

Laura has been farming and co-running Green Mountain Girls Farm since 2008 focusing on raising healthy crops and livestock and turning them into nutritious meals all year long. Laura & Mari’s shared passion is to farm in a way that addresses climate change and provides healthy food.  

Prior to returning to Vermont in 2007, Laura was Managing Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a three-state regional organization shaping the debate on growth and transportation policy in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. Laura was responsible for the day-to-day management of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, including staff management and development, hiring, fundraising, and finances, with an additional role in communications. She played a critical role in building a larger, more effective regional team of staff, volunteers, and partners working to make smart growth a reality in the Washington, DC region. As a seasoned grassroots organizer, she helped the organization grow from three staff to a 10-person team delivering media, policy, organizing and campaign support throughout the region.

Before joining the Coalition in 2000, Laura served as the national Field Campaign Manager for the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), a national coalition responsible for the federal transportation reforms adopted by Congress in the 1990s. Prior to STPP, she worked with Green Corps, a national field school for environmental organizing.

She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont.